Pulmonary capillary pressure during acute lung injury in dogs

OBJECTIVES To measure pulmonary capillary pressure and pulmonary artery occlusion pressures both during control conditions and during acute lung injury and to evaluate the effects of inotropic therapy and volume loading on these measurements after lung injury. DESIGN Prospective, randomized, controlled laboratory trial. SETTING University research laboratory. SUBJECTS Eighteen heartworm-free mongrel dogs. INTERVENTIONS Dogs were anesthetized (sodium pentobarbital, 30 mg/kg intravenously), intubated, and mechanically ventilated. A femoral artery and vein and the right external jugular vein were cannulated. After a median sternotomy, two pulmonary artery catheters were inserted via the jugular vein into the left and right lower lobar pulmonary arteries. Oleic acid (0.03 mL/kg) was administered to all dogs via the left pulmonary artery catheter, whereas the right lower lobe served as control. A baseline group of dogs received no further interventions, whereas two additional groups were given dobutamine (30–60 μg·kg·min intravenously) or saline boluses (1–2 L) before measurements were obtained after oleic acid lung injury. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Capillary pressure was estimated in both lower lung lobes by using the pulmonary artery occlusion method. Pulmonary capillary and pulmonary artery occlusion pressures were measured before and 2 hrs after oleic acid administration. Left lower lobar capillary pressure increased in all three groups, as did the difference between capillary pressure and pulmonary artery occlusion pressure. Capillary pressure in the control right lower lobe increased significantly only in the saline-loaded dogs, whereas the difference between the right-sided capillary and occlusion pressures increased only in the dogs given dobutamine. CONCLUSIONS Oleic acid lung injury increases pulmonary capillary pressure independent of pulmonary artery occlusion pressure. The gradient between the two pressures was not significantly affected by volume loading or dobutamine infusion.